he put forward a proposal for avoiding that outcome while congress continues working on longer term deficit reduction. that's the sensiblehingo do. why make-- why punish the american people because you haven't been able to achieve your ideological objectives through other means? >> sreenivasan: in another development, the associated press reported the u.s. military is cutting back from two aircraft carriers to one, in the persian gulf. the report cited u.s. officials who said it's a direct response to the looming, across-the-board cuts. u.s. and british regulators have fined the royal bank of scotland more than $610 million for manipulating a key interest rate. the u.s. commodity futures trading commission said today that r.b.s. made hundreds of attempts to manipate the rate known as libor. it's a global benchmark for rates on everything from home mortgages to credit card payments. two other banks-- barclays and u.b.s.-- have already been fined for their roles in the scandal. wall street mostly stayed where it was today. the dow jones industrial average gained seven points to close at 13,98